Re-usable collapsible carton



RE-USABLE COLLAPSIBLE CARTON Onil 0. Cote, Manchester, N. H.

Application December 30, 1952, Serial No. 328,741

Claims. (Cl. 229-69) This invention relates to collapsible tubular cartons of corrugated paperboard or the like, such as are often used in the baking industry, for transporting a number of loaves of bread, pies, pastry or similar baked products.

Such products are usually made at a large central plant serving the adjacent area and are distributed daily to the various retail establishments within that area by motor vehicle. Heretofore baked goods have been transported in deep or shallow uncovered trays which may be arranged to stack vertically or which may rest on shelves or racks built into the vehicle. They have also been transported in tubular boxes of paperboard, each having four end flaps sealed by adhesive tape or in collapsible boxes provided with a collapsible cover connected thereto by interlocking flaps.

The provision of shelves at the factory, or in the vehicle, for containers that are not capable of being stacked is costly and space consuming. On the other hand, the stacking of sutficiently rigid rectangular boxes, without the use of shelves or racks has made it diflicult to withdraw a box from the centre of the stack since no grip is afforded thereby. Furthermore, such boxes strong enough to be stacked one upon the other usually have had to be opened by breaking the end flaps, or the adhesive strips sealing the same, thus limiting the use thereof to a single trip.

It is the object of this invention to provide a collapsible container in which articles such as loaves of fresh, soft bread may be transported in a single layer with no danger of compression thereof by the weight of other loaves when the container is tilted, or the weight of other cartons when the carton is stacked with others.

Another object of the invention is to provide such acarton which is usable many times without damage occurring during the opening and closing of the ends thereof and which is also strong enough to be stacked vertically Without racks or shelves.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carton with end hand holes and with side walls in the form of an isosceles trapezoid, the latter preventing the close juxtaposition of the ends of other boxes and assuring continued circulation of fresh air in and around the boxes when necessary or desirable as in permitting the crust of French bread to harden during transport.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tubular carton which may be quickly erected by upfolding the side walls, quickly closed and latched by upfolding the end walls and quickly unlatched and opened by flexing an integral latching strip.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carton for baked goods having a single doubled end wall or flap at each end whereby when said cartons are stacked, the doubled end walls form a strong vertical column at each end of the stack.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carton for baked goods having inclined edges on the ends of the side walls which, together with a top wall projecting beyond a lower wall, form a hood shaped handle portion nited States Patent 0 2,749,016 IC Patented June 5, 1956 at each end of the carton whereby the carton is less likely to be placed on end and whereby a single carton may be easily withdrawn from within a vertical stack of cartons.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the carton shown in Fig. 1 on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the carton shown in Figs 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation in section on a smaller scale, showing a plurality of the cartons of this invention vertically stacked.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton is formed and Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section, on line 6-6 of Fig. 2 showing the latching means of the invention.

As shown in the drawing, F is the blank from which the collapsible tubular carton A is formed, the blank F being preferably of corrugated paperboard cut, scored or creased as indicated.

The blank F is divided into four walls 20, 21, 22 and 23 and a longitudinally extending glue flap 24, by longitudinally extending lines of articulation 25, 26, 27 and 23 which may be creased or scored or both. The longitudinally extending glue flap 24 overlaps and is adhered to wall 20 when walls 20, 21, 22 and 23 are folded to form a collapsed box or tube and the box may be shipped or stored fiat or the four hingedly connected walls may be erected to define a tube of hollow rectangular cross section in a well known manner. The wall 20 is designated the top wall, the wall 22 the bottom wall, and the walls 21 and 23 the side walls of the carton A formed from the blank F.

Top wall 20 and bottom wall 22 are preferably rectangular although they could be square if desired and the bottom wall 22 is centered opposite top wall 20 but is of less length than the top wall. Angular cuts at 30, 31, 32 and 33 cause the pair of identical side walls 21 and 23 to each take the shape of what I call an isosceles trapezoid in that each pair of cuts such as 30 and 32 are at equal angles while the other two sides of a wall such as 21 are formed by the parallel lines of articulation 25 and 26.

A pair of identical end walls 40 and 41, each extend longitudinally from an opposite end of bottom wall 22 and are hingedly connected thereto by single lateral lines of articulation 42 and 43. End walls 40 and 41 are also preferably rectangular and each is provided with a hand hole such as 44 or 45 which also provides ventilation for carton A. Each end wall such as 40 and 41 is preferably provided with a pair of identical laterally extending reinforcing fiaps 46, 47, 48 and 49 each flap being connected thereto by a longitudinally extending line of articulation such as 50, 51, 52 and 53. End walls 40, 41 form hingedly connected end closures for carton A when the tubular carton is erected and when in closed position retain the shape of the box and prevent the collapse thereof.

At each opposite end of top wall 20, a pair of identical latching tabs 60 and 61 are provided, each formed by a longitudinal extension of wall 20 preferably of substan tially less lateral extent than, and positioned intermediate of, the opposite lateral edges thereof. In forming the carton A from blank F, each tab 60 and 61 is bent back and secured to the underside of top wall 20 by adhesive or preferably by staples such as 63 in which position it forms the latching means D of the device. Similarly the reinforcing flaps such as 46 and 4"] are bent back and secured to the end wall such as 40, by adhesive or preferably by staples such as 64, the end walls 40 and 41 forming the closure means C of the device. I call the portion of top wall 20, which extends beyond the bottom wall 22, the gripping portion of the handle means B of the device and preferably support the same by the triangular webs such as indicated at 70 in Fig. 6 formed by the isosceles trapezoid outline of each side wall 21 and 23.

Preferably each latching tab 60 and 61 is bowed centrally at 65 away from the underside 71 of top wall 20 to form an arc in the path of, and abutting on, the free end of an end wall such as 40 or 41. The bowed portion 65 may be depressed flatwise against the underside 71 while the top wall 20 is slightly bowed upwardly to permit passage of the end wall and despite the rigidity of posite end of the stack. As also shown in Fig. 4, any

one of the intermediate boxes in the stack may be easily gripped and Withdrawn by the hood shaped projecting handle means 13 thereof. Similarly, the projecting handle means B prevents a carton A from being placed on end since it would tilt and fall over in that position, thus assuring that the contents will not be damaged by their own weight.

in Fig. 6 I show the latching means D of the device flatwise against the underside 71 of top wall 20 and the top wall 20 bowed upwardly thereby permitting the closure means C to hinge downwardly and outwardly to give asscess to carton A. It will be apparent that once the collapsed carton is erected into a tube, the upfolding of closure means C will cause the free ends thereof, such as 80, to flex the latching means D and become engaged therebehind. Merely lifting up on the handle means B and depressing the bowed latching means D will release the closure means C to fall into open position. It will also be apparent that the carton A is equally useful when upside down and that it can be of many other shapes without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A one piece, collapsible, tubular carton of rectangular cross section for use in carrying baked goods, and capable of being stacked, said carton having an elongated, flat, rectangular top wall; an elongated flat, rectangular bottom wall equal in Width to said top wall but of less length than said top wall, a pair of elongated, fiat, isosceles trapezoidal side walls and a pair of fiat, rectangular end closure walls, said elongated top, bottom and side walls being hinged to each other along longitudinally extending lines of fold to form a tube when erected from fiat collapsed condition, said rectangular end closure walls being each hingedly connected, along single lateral fold lines to an opposite end of said bottom wall and adapted to sustain said carton in tubular condition when upfolded to a position normal to said bottom wall and said bottom wall being centrally disposed lengthwise and parallel to said top wall to form a pair of handle means of hooded configuration at each opposite end of said carton when erected, each said handle means comprising the portions of the adjacent flat top wall and flat, isoceles,trapezoidal side walls projecting beyond said bottom wall.

2. A combination as specified in claim 1 plus an integral, arcuate, abutment depending below the central lit portion of the portion of each said top wall projecting beyond said bottom wall and in the path of the free end of each said hingedly connected end closure panel, said arcuate abutment extending laterally of said carton and being bowed outwardly from said top wall in the centre but attached flatwise against said top wall at each opposite end whereby upward pressure on the central portion of said abutment flattens the same against the top wall to enable passage thereby of the said free end of an end closure panel.

3. A combination as specified in claim 1 plus a pair of integral flaps on each said end closure panel, each flap being hingedly connected thereto along an opposite side edge of the panel and bent back flatwise against the outer face thereof to substantially double the thickness of the panel and thereby increase the support to the top wall of the carton, along the longitudinal centre line thereof when said end closure panel and said tubular carton are in erected, closed condition.

4. A collapsible tubular carton of rectangular cross section formed of a single piece of self sustaining, substantially rigid paperboard and capable of being stacked, said carton including an elongated flat, rectangular top wall; a fiat rectangular bottom wall cetrally disposed parallel to, and of less length than, said top wall; a pair of identical, flat side walls, each in the form of an isosceles trapezoid and each having its opposite parallel side edges hingedly connected to a longitudinal edge of said flat top and bottom walls; a pair of identical fiat rectangular end walls, each hingedly connected by a single line of articulation to an opposite lateral edge of said bottom wall and forming an end closure for said carton when erected and a pair of identical latching tabs, each formed by a longitudinal extension, centrally disposed laterally of a lateral edge of said top wall, each said tab being bent back and secured at each opposite end, at opposite sides of the longitudinal centre line of said top wall, flatwise against the underside of said top wall, but being bowed away therefrom at said longitudinal centre line well into the path of, and abutting on the free end of the adjacent hinged end wall, the portions of said top and side walls extending beyond said bottom wall forming handle means at each opposite end of said carton and forming an endwise support for said carton only at an incline from the vertical.

5. A combination as specified in claim 4 plus a pair of integral flaps at each end of said carton; each pair of flaps being formed by lateral extensions on the sides of an end wall, bent back fiatwise against the surface of said end wall and secured thereto for forming a double thick end wall substantially across each opposite end of said carton when erected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,545,771 Hout July 14, 1925 1,548,237 Ackerman Aug. 4, 1925 1,646,665 Smith Oct. 25, 1927 1,826,197 Adams Oct. 6, 1931 2,316,384 Abramson Apr. 13, 1943 2,469,497 Conway May 10, 1949 2,579,346 Theander Dec. 18, 1951 2,610,781 Metzger a- Sept. 16, 1952 

